Recep Erdogan visits Greece, first such visit in 65 years by Turkish President

Greece's President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (right) welcomes Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) on an official visit to Athens.
Thanassis Stavrakis

by
Niki Kitsantonis and Carlotta Gall

Turkey's president made a landmark visit to Greece on Thursday, but any expectation for diplomacy was quickly deflated by his call for changes to an international treaty that defines the borders between the rivals.

With Turkey's relations with Europe and the US deteriorating, there had been hopes that Erdogan's visit might portend closer relations with Greece, and greater stability in the region. It had been touted, on both sides of the Aegean as being aimed at improving ties.

Instead, Erdogan managed to provoke his hosts even before landing in Athens. In an interview published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on Thursday, he suggested an "update" of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which defined Turkey's borders with neighbouring countries after World War I.

Erdogan has been raising the issue of the Lausanne Treaty since last year's failed coup, calling it unfair, a public stance that is considered provocative not only toward Greece, but even in Turkey because it questions the very legitimacy of the republic that was established on the foundations of the treaty.

He has emphasised the unfairness of the treaty that handed islands close to Turkey's shores to Greece, and raised concerns about the Turkish community in Greece, which is known officially as a Muslim minority rather than as ethnic Turkish.

'No raising of walls'

After Erdogan picked up the theme on Thursday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece told him that he was eager to "build bridges, not raise walls," and he underlined the need for "respect for international law, treaties and of the territorial integrity of countries."

Erdogan indicated that border changes were not what he had in mind, declaring that Turkey "never covets the territory of another country."

But it was hard for the Greeks to interpret Erdogan's remarks on the Lausanne Treaty any other way. Erdogan's insistence on calling the Muslim minority in Greece a "Turkish minority," as Turkish officials have done for years, is regarded by Greece as suggesting territorial aspirations.

Erdogan called on Greek authorities to drop "ideological fixations" and to expand the rights of Muslims living in Thrace, in northern Greece, which he is to visit Friday.

Muslims there, he said, should be able to elect their own religious leaders, rather than have them appointed by the Greek state. Denying Muslims in Greece the right to appoint their own muftis is a violation of the Lausanne Treaty, he said.

Erdogan also repeated demands for the extradition of eight members of the Turkish armed forces who fled to Greece in a military helicopter after a failed Turkish coup last year.

The men have applied for asylum in Greece, and Greece's highest court rejected their extradition in January. Since July 2016, Greece has reported a surge in asylum requests by Turkish citizens, with nearly 1,000 applications submitted.

Waves of immigrants

Another point of contention are the waves of immigrants that continue to reach Greece from Turkey, despite an agreement between the European Union and Ankara last year that was aimed at curbing human trafficking across the Aegean.

Tsipras said that Greece, a much smaller country, had struggled to host hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving from neighbouring Turkey. However, he said the two leaders had agreed on ways to work together more effectively in tackling the refugee crisis, without specifying how.

Economic relations were also on the agenda during Erdogan's visit, with a focus on the energy, trade and transport sectors. Three large projects a border bridge, ferry connections and a high-speed train connection are already in the works.

But much of the hopes that those projects might deepen ties faded in the terse exchanges on Thursday.

Security was tight for the visit, with more than 2800 police officers on duty in the Greek capital, and Erdogan was said to be traveling with some 200 security guards and special agents. Before Erdogan's visit, Greek police arrested nine Turkish citizens suspected of being linked to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, an extreme leftist group, in Athens last week.

Erdogan visited Greece as prime minister in 2004 and 2010, and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited in June. But no Turkish president had visited since Celal Bayar in 1952.